Field and Stream - Hunting Ducks and Geese RSS

Fewer Snow Geese In Texas, Fewer Hunters

Sarah Smith — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:43:00 -0500

--Chad Love

Hunter participation in Texas' post-season conservation order snow goose hunts has plummeted, as the number of birds wintering in Texas has declined dramatically.

From this story in the Houston Chronicle:

During the 2000 snow goose conservation season, almost 28,000 waterfowlers went afield in Texas. They took, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department surveys, a little more than 102,000 geese. The next two years, participation fell a bit, to about 18,400 in 2001 and 21,700. Then things changed, drastically. In the early 2000s, the number of snow geese coming to the Texas coast nose-dived as the birds began a major shift in wintering grounds.

The Best Field & Stream Reader Photos From January 2012

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:06:52 -0500

The 50 Best Field & Stream Reader Photos of January.

Happy 75th Anniversary Ducks Unlimited!

Sarah Smith — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 11:33:58 -0500

by Chad Love

This past weekend marked the 75th anniversary of that most venerable (and venerated) of sportsman-based conservation groups, Ducks Unlimited. What began as a small group of Depression-era hunters trying desperately to save our dwindling waterfowl populations in the depths of the Dust Bowl has grown into one the largest, most recognizable and respected conservation brands in North America.

From a DU press release:

"DU's 75th anniversary is a monumental moment in conservation history," said Dale Hall, CEO of Ducks Unlimited. "This anniversary˜and the last 75 years of science-based, on-the-ground conservation work across North America˜would not be possible without the dedication of our volunteers and supporters, as well as the partners who time and time again helped us succeed in our mission. This celebration is as much theirs as it is ours."

New Gear for Waterfowl, Turkey and Upland Bird Hunting in 2012

Online Editors — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:25:15 -0500

Here are the best gear items for bird hunters for 2012.

National Pheasant Fest and Quail Classic: A Hunting Expo Worth Attending

Sarah Smith — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:11:51 -0500

by Chad Love

The noted French existentialist philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre once famously opined that “Hell is other people.” As a lifelong misanthrope, I’ve found that little gem to be not only a great way to kill conversation at dinner parties, but a wholly satisfying life philosophy. It’s not that I don’t like people; it’s just that I try to avoid large numbers of them at all costs.

So when the website informed me that I would be attending SHOT this year with some 65,000 of my closest friends, and that I would even be allowed to wander the show floor unsupervised, I questioned the decision as either a gracious but misguided act of charity or the result of a lost bet.

I took pains to point out to my editors that in matters of tact, wit and other social graces I’m roughly on par with Bat Boy from the Weekly World News. I reminded them, too, that, frankly speaking, I prefer the company of dogs to outdoor industry types, and that as a preferred destination for the third week in January I’ll take a CRP field in Kansas over Las Vegas, Nevada, oh, about ten times out of ten.

The Best Shotguns of 2012

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:56:43 -0500

These are the best new shotguns of 2012.

Clean Water Finding Few Friends in Washington

Sarah Smith — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 10:42:15 -0500

by Bob Marshall

When it comes to wetlands protections, it's hard for sportsmen to find any heroes in Washington these days. We have a House majority that spent last year shouting its opposition to restoring protections to 20 million acres of vital wetlands stripped by the Supreme Court, and vows to continue that assault this election cycle. And we have a president who makes a lot of noise about helping--but then doesn't follow through.

So as Congress returns to work this month, sportsmen's conservation groups find themselves fighting on two fronts in the battle to restore protections to those temporary and isolated wetlands. Here's the situation:

When the GOP blocked attempts to correct those court rulings with the proposed Clean Water Restoration Act, conservationists were cheered when the Obama Administration stepped in last spring sending its agencies a proposed new wetland "guidance"--spelling out which wetlands they could protect. This wouldn't put protections back on everything, but it would help.

The Best New Rifles of 2012

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 12:41:18 -0500

The Best New Rifles of 2012.

U.S. House Passes e-Duck Stamp Bill

Sarah Smith — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 09:49:36 -0500

--Chad Love

The ability to buy your federal duck stamp online is one step closer to reality after a bill seeking to make the program permanent passed the U.S. House this week.

From this story in the Washington Post:

The e-Duck Stamp would become a permanent part of federal law under legislation passed by the House Monday. Since 1934, migratory waterfowl hunters over the age of 16 have been required to buy the federal migratory bird hunting and conservation stamps, or duck stamps, at post offices or sporting goods stores. But four years ago, eight states joined a pilot program allowing them to sell temporary duck stamps through the Internet. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Rob Wittman, R-Va., said that program has been a success and it was time to make it federal law.

Sitka's New Duck Parka in The Optifade Marsh Line

Online Editors — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 15:26:12 -0500

With Sitka’s Optifade Marsh line of camo apparel comes the new Duck Oven jacket. This is a very functional jacket for duck hunting that allows you to stay warm with the upper third being insulated inside and a Gortex wind stopper outside. The bottom of the jacket is thinner, allowing you to tuck it into your waders, while still obtaining maximum warmth. It will keep you dry and warm, just like the other 15 different pieces in this waterfowl clothing line.

SHOT Show 2012 From The Floor: Day 3

Online Editors — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 01:48:52 -0500

Photos from the floor of SHOT Show 2012, Day 2.

SHOT Show 2012 From The Floor: Day 2

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:34:22 -0500

Photos from the floor of SHOT Show 2012, Day 2.

SHOT Show 2012 From The Floor: Day I

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:48:40 -0500

Photos from the floor of SHOT Show 2012, Day 1.

A Toast on the Last Day of the Season

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 09:08:42 -0500

by Phil Bourjaily

I rarely hunt opening day but I always try to go on the last day of the season. Seeing it out to the end is an important ceremony. Besides, if you have hunted enough, you’re relieved when the season ends. If you haven’t, it’s still a relief to be able to stop stressing about not getting out. It’s an occasion worth marking.

Although some of my closing day hunts are nothing more freezing walks with little expectation of success, more often they have been memorable.

Washington Waterfowlers Pushing for Electronic Decoy Legalization

Online Editors — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 11:39:52 -0500

--Chad Love

Electronic duck decoys. You see them virtually everywhere now, but the ethics of using them remains a point of never-ending debate among waterfowlers. These devices are legal in 47 states, and the state of Washington is not one of them. But now some Washington State waterfowlers are pushing to get the electronic motion decoys legalized. 

From this story in the Spokane Spokesman-Review:

If it looks like a duck, acts like a duck and flaps its wings like a duck, conventional wisdom dictates that it is, in fact, a duck. But not always. Not when the duck in question is really a Mojo Duck, RoboDuk or any other brand of spinning-wing decoy that waterfowl hunters use to lure real birds into shooting range.

The Best Field & Stream Reader Photos From 2011

Dave_Maccar — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:15:14 -0500

The 60 best photos submitted by readers in 2011.

Field & Stream's Best Photo Galleries and Blogs of 2011

Dave_Maccar — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 13:53:52 -0500

The 25 best online stories from F&S in 2011.

The End of an Era: South Dakota Bird Hunting is Changing

Sarah Smith — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 12:18:34 -0500

--Chad Love

Are hunters in our top pheasant hunting state witnessing the end of an era? Maybe so, according to this excellent story in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

In the nearly half-century he's lived in South Dakota, John Cooper has seen countless beautiful prairie sunsets. But none perhaps prettier than one on a recent late afternoon that arched wild hues of orange, red, yellow and crimson across a darkening sky. "I never get tired of that,'' Cooper said, nodding toward the colorful horizon, a 12 gauge double-gun slung over one shoulder and his Labrador retriever walking ahead. However barren in appearance, South Dakota prairies pulse with life.

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The Best Field & Stream Reader Photos From December 2011

Dave_Maccar — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 09:44:10 -0500

The 50 Best Field & Stream Reader Photos of December.
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First Shots Photo Collection

Online Editors — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 10:59:48 -0500

A collection of jaw-dropping hunting and fishing photos from Field & Stream's "First Shots" magazine section.

Write a Caption, Win Some Remington Nitro Steel Ammo!

Sarah Smith — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 14:53:56 -0500

by Chad Love

Remember when I told you the drought earlier this year had dried up virtually all the dog training and duck hunting water in my part of the world and that things were definitely not looking good for waterfowl season? I wasn't kidding.

Yep, you guessed it: it's time for another Man's Best Friend Caption Contest. You know the drill: best caption to the picture above take the prize, which in this case happens to be pretty sweet, and appropriate to the picture. One lucky wit will get two boxes of Remington 12 gauge Nitro Steel duck loads, which the guy in the picture (no, it's not me, really) looks like he could use a few of.

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End of the Year Musings from a Duck Hunter

Sarah Smith — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 14:10:47 -0500

by Chad Love

The snow came roaring in to my little corner of the world earlier this week, and with it the birds, pushing ahead of the blizzard raging behind them. Hunkered down in the cattails, we watched them flying high and fast. They were gone with neither a glance nor quack toward my meager spread and ever-pitiful calling. A typical evening hunt for me.

So we just sat there, the dog and I, in the lee of an old beaver lodge, content to watch the undulating spectacle of migration play out across the evening sky. We had the lake, and seemingly the world, all to ourselves. And, as I often do in the presence of such ancient and wondrous magic, I quickly fell into deep contemplation of all life's mysteries. A natural thing to do, I suppose, in these last penultimate days of the year, poised between looking back at what was and looking forward to what will be.

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You Think Your Duck Spot is Crowded?

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 10:51:52 -0500

by Chad Love

Here's one from the "So You Think Your Duck Spot Is Crowded?" files...

Last week I got the chance to spend a few days hunting the Stuttgart, Arkansas area (duck hunting and rice capital of the world) with the good folks of Ducks Unlimited. In addition to hunting, one of the most interesting parts of the trip was a tour of what is undoubtedly one of the biggest and most famous public duck hunting areas in the nation, Bayou Meto a huge, 33,000-acre WMA with some 13,000 acres of flooded green timber mallard Nirvana into which DU has invested a tremendous amount of habitat and conservation work.

With all that duck habitat, Bayou Meto is, understandably, a rather popular place with duck hunters. How popular? The DU biologists told me that, on average, there are anywhere from 1,200-1,500 duck hunters utilizing Bayou Meto every day.

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Don’t Blame Predators For the Lack of Birds

Sarah Smith — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 13:38:33 -0500

by Phil Bourjaily

Usually, I post about hunting and shooting things with a shotgun, but in order to do that, I need birds to shoot at and those are in short supply in Iowa’s uplands* these days. So instead I will vent. One of my many frustrations with our lack of birds is listening to people--often people who spend a lot of time outdoors and should know better--blame predators alone for our lack of birds. I have heard all the following and more this season:

There are more birds south of the interstate ‘cause the guys down there do a better job of killing coyotes.

All these bald eagles along the river are eating the pheasants.

I saw a mountain lion the other day. I bet they eat pheasants.

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Birdwatchers Want Hunters Off Public Land For Scaring 'Rare' Duck

Sarah Smith — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 12:02:10 -0500

--Chad Love

Utah birdwatchers are trying to close a popular public space to hunting because they're mad that hunters scared off a rare (for that area) duck. Seriously. But of course they're framing it as a "safety" issue.

From this story on standard.net:

A harlequin duck, a species rarely seen in Utah, visited Antelope Island's causeway in September. Two weeks after it first arrived, a few more showed up to keep her company, including a male. However, the day after Thanksgiving, the ducks were gone. Local birders, a nickname for birdwatchers, are upset about how the ducks were easily hunted from the causeway. The birders want to change the law allowing duck hunters to fire their guns in such a popular tourist area.

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